The Attic Child Quotes

“I looked down at the ruffled sheets, now a disgusting reminder of what had occurred just hours before. The obvious soiling screamed at me, covering me in its filth.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“He said your people were destitute and had no choice but to give you to him. You were found running around all alone, naked, he said.” A level of shock began to form inside me. “Why would he say that, when it is untrue?”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“England must be much better than your homeland?” “Is this your first time using a knife and fork?” “What does it feel like to wear clothes?”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“I need you to make sure it is made clear that, althought my story started a certain way, it ended with love...so much love.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“Although my story started a certain way, it ended with love.” -Dikembe”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“But what if, just this once, I wish to be the red king, Mama? The color of blood. What if just this once, I wanted to do what was not right in the eyes of some but felt absolutely right in this moment? What if I was fed up with being trampled upon? Being told what to do and who I was, Mama? What if I no longer wanted to be the black king?”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“Because what if reminding myself to feel his pain, I'd uncover my own. My own truths. My own secrets.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“When we brought him home, Marjorie sensed my hesitation, which was probably why she did one of the most unconventional things a wife could do. She’d sometimes leave me to spend time with the baby alone, almost out of the door before announcing a visit to her parents or to the shops.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“Who usually cooks?” “Enid.” “Enid isn’t here. We had to let her go because we have you.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“Burned to the ground, the entire village, and by those who claim to have wanted the greater good!” “What?” “What I am trying to tell you, dearest boy, is that your village is no more.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child

“The boy in front of the free-standing oak mirror wasn’t me. This figure breathed when I breathed, moved when I moved, yet I still couldn’t place him.”
― Lola Jaye, The Attic Child